bloc, parliamentary

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.

Copyright The Columbia University Press

parliamentary bloc [Fr.,=block], group of legislators formed to support special interests. A bloc may form because of a specific issue and dissolve when that issue has been resolved, or it may have a more permanent character, based on a more general interest. It is usually more tightly knit and aggressive than a coalition. The bloc has been a common device in legislatures made up of many parties, where it has tended to create two loose groups of
"left"
and
"right."
In nominally bipartisan legislatures, such as those of the United States, blocs are smaller groups and are usually organized to promote a specific economic or social interest or policy as, for example, the farm bloc. The late 20th cent. saw the development of bloc voting by groups of states in the General Assembly of the United Nations.

Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

Citation styles

Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA).

Within the “Cite this article” tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list.

Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. Therefore, it’s best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publication’s requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites:

Modern Language Association

The Chicago Manual of Style

American Psychological Association

Notes:

Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. However, the date of retrieval is often important. Refer to each style’s convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates.

In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list.